One of the most exciting facets of life on the road is finding new ways to look at frequently photographed locations. Mormon Row is iconic Americana, right up there with the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, and the Welcome to Las Vegas sign, and if you've ever visited Jackson Hole you know just how popular it is at sunrise or sunset. But at 2 o'clock in the morning, the barn belongs to me. I visited the barns four or five times during a week-long trip to Jackson, and shot it in every light condition that you can imagine, but it wasn't until the stars came out that I found a unique angle on this familiar place. I lit the barn with repeated pops from a handheld flash unit, then set down to watch the stars spin - and guard against encroaching bears. —Flash Parker

My uncle and I stood with my tripod on the lakeshore behind our houseboat, trying desperately to capture the massive red rock wall before us. It was one of my first lessons in night photography, and it wasn't going great: there just wasn't enough light despite the starry starry sky. I tried over and over, different shutter speeds, using spotlights, nothing worked...too dark. On my last try, I set the shutter speed to a few minutes, as the shutter opened, all of a sudden a houseboat from the next cove over set off fireworks. Their fireworks lit up the entire night sky, and shone their glorious light right on my rock face, resulting in this image. —Rachel Tobias

It was our final night of fun after three days of interacting with the locals of Pinedale, WY. The stars were amazing so we decided to check them out at a lake we had yet to see. A glow from the small town crept over the distant horizon and faded into the star-filled sky. Just as we were leaving I noticed Danielle standing at the end of the dock and told her to freeze. I thought it was beautiful how Danielle and the dock happened to line up with the milky way. —Joshua Patton Baker

The Bristlecone Pine Forest high up in the White Mountains of California has got to be experienced to be believed. Some trees can live for around 5000 years. And even after they die, the tree trunks can stay for another five thousand years. So it's possible that some of the trunks that one walks amongst are approaching 10,000 years old. These trees are the oldest living things on the planet, and it really blows the mind to think that you are walking in a forest of trees that may have been around when Buddha was walking the earth, some around even before George Burns was born. You can access this from Highway 395, and then up into the mountains along Route 168 from Big Pine. —Ken Lee

The Maroon Bells can be one of the most crowded and crazy places to try to take photos in Colorado. I think it carries the distinction of being the most photographed mountain in all of North America.

If you decide to go for sunrise photos during peak fall colors, you are met with bus loads of tourists snapping pictures from the lake. If peak colors fall on a weekend you need to get there an hour or more before sunrise just to get a position on the shore. Basically, its not a fun experience. Fortunately there is another way, and you get even better photos out of the trip. Go to the Maroon Bells at night for moonrise. Read more about Maroon Bells. —Thomas O'Brien

Want to visit the church made famous from "The Birds" (movie) by Alfred Hitchcock? Or was the subject of a photograph by none other than Ansel Adams (who probably didn't take a star trails photo as done here, a long exposure photo showing the celestial movements over time). Go to the town of Bodega in Sonoma County. Anywhere you drive from promises to be a lovely drive, whether from the Pacific Coast or from Santa Rosa. The whole area is gorgeous. —Ken Lee

The Aurora Borealis goes on all night in Akureyri, Iceland; however, the clouds, moon and weather prevent the human eye to see it all the time. We were lucky enough to be able to catch the Northern Lights on our trip. It was just like how the old Icelandic folklore described it...like lost children dancing in the night sky. The more they danced, the happier they were. Needless to say, it was an unbelievable experience.

TIP: Look up the lunar calendar prior to booking your trip so that the moon is not full when want to see the Aurora Borealis (better chances of seeing it when the moon is not full). —Phuong Trieu

So long as you don't mind a little bit of sand in your knickers, a night in the Thar Desert under a star lit sky is an experience unlike anything you've experienced in your entire life.

We rode out into the desert on ill-tempered camels, bouncing and bopping so hard I thought I would crash back to earth at any moment. Our guides tossed a few bedrolls and pillows onto the sand and told us to enjoy ourselves - and watch out for scorpions (though I well and truly believe that they were only kidding). Read more about this experience. —Flash Parker

No trip to Morocco is complete without an overnight camel trek into the Sahara Desert. Erg Chebbi, the highest dune in Morocco invites you to ascend for a sunset view that includes vistas into Algeria. But the true treat is to be hosted by Berbers. After enjoying a dinner of traditional tagine, bread, and vegetables and desert of fresh fruits, there is nothing more spectacular than watching the night sky nestled in between the dunes as the moon passes high over head. —Sandy Gennrich

Due to it's exceptionally clear skies, the Atacama desert region of Chile is famous for stargazing. One way to take advantage of this is to visit SPACE (San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations) at 166 Caracoles in San Pedro de Atacama. They have nightly tours that bring participants into the desert to observe the night sky with both the naked eye and 10 professional telescopes. We were blown away by the depth of information provided by our tour guide and were thrilled by the site of Saturn's rings, Jupiter's moons, Alpha Centauri, Beta Centauri, the Magellanic clouds and Betelguese. It was an absolute highlight for us on our trip to Chile AND we got to take this picture of the moon with our own digital camera using the lens of one of the telescopes! —Carmen Rose King

When they say Big Sur, the "big" cannot be underscored enough. The Big Sur coastline area of California might be among my favorite places on earth. It doesn't matter what time of day, season of the year, or type of weather--it always has some incredible boon to bestow upon any sojourner. This photo was taken just after sunset overlooking the Big Sur coastline where the Pacific meets the shoreline. You can just see the last remaining rays of the day and a few wispy clouds fading off to the west as the night and the stars gradually march across the sky to start to assume their posts. I don't know if I can ever recall a transition between night and day that was as striking and magical as this one but I guess that is the power of Big Sur. —Chris Franek

Borrego Springs is a nationally designated "dark sky" community. Because there is hardly any light pollution, this is one of the best places in the country for star gazing. The sunset and sunrise colors here are gorgeous- this image was taken at sunset and there is no photo shop enhancement to this image.

The night sky is absolutely stunning- you don't really need a telescope to appreciate this beautiful view. But in case don't have your own telescope and you want to learn some astronomy- there are star gazing classes held here hosted by astronomer Dennis Mammana. —Rajam Roose

The Trona Pinnacles is one of the most unusual geological features in the Mojave Desert of California, its unusual landscape consisting of hundreds of tufa spires rising from a former lake bed, stark mountains bracketing the formations. —Ken Lee

The luminescent Shanti Stupa is a steep 555 steps above Leh in Ladakh at over 3657m/12,000 ft. in elevation, and was built by Japanese Buddhist Bhikshu Gyomyo Nakamura in 1991 when there were no roads or lights, using six donkeys for help. The stupa holds relics of the Buddha at its base, and was enshrined by the Dalai Lama. I've gone here on each of my three visits to Ladakh, the first time in 1997, six years after it was completed.

When in Leh, you can easily see Shanti Stupa rising above the city, and can access it by going up to Changspa and then walking up the steep steps. I happened to walk up at night, but day or night, it's magical. —Ken Lee

After all the excitement of the day, night comes and a true spectacle of color unfolds.

Nighttime offers beautiful skies that AFAR magazine blogger Adriana Yampey loves to see in person and in photos. Here are some of her favorite shots of glittering heavens that have been taken by members of the AFAR community.